Really, even the games within the UMass
games would have given any practicing
schizophrenic a rush. The maddening
Minutemen flailed around helplessly against the
patented Villanova matchup zone during the
entire first half on offense, while allowing 6-11
Wildcat widebody Malik Allen to push them
around inside at will to the tune of 14 powerful
points. Down by fourteen biggies at 31-17,
UMass was extremely fortunate to trail only
31-21 at the end of one of the worst halves in
UMass hoops history.

Or anybody's hoop history.

UMass looked disorganized and/or disinterested
on defense, failing to get back in transition time
after time after time. The offense was even
more infuriating, ignoring the inside game in
toto, as the Minuteguards were putting up
hopeless three after hopeless-er three (they
were 0-7 in the first half from treyland), most
of the time with no teammate in the vicinity to
rebound the brick under the basket.

Which, of course makes a bad shot into an
even worse shot.

But at least this truly putrid performance wasn't
entirely one-dimensional: it was tempered with
poor rebounding, baleful boxing out off the
boards, and a plethora of careless turnovers as
well.

As huge hoop fan George Bush used to say, "It
was ba-a-a-d! Bad!"

But then, just as even the most self-respecting
UMass maniac was just about getting ready to
concede this horror to the loss column, the
Minuteguys came out for the second half
breathing some furious fire. They clamped
down on defense like they haven't in the
longest time, holding powerful 'Nova without a
basket for over 10 minutes! Of course, since
they still couldn't shoot from the outside to save
their lives, their comeback was still
painstakingly painful and exceedingly slow.
Finally, at the 7:10 mark, UMass took over the
lead at 38-36, capping a 17-5 run (which took
over twelve and a half minutes!) on a basket by
Monty Mack.

Besides the deliciously devastating "D", the key
for UMass was a manic Chris Kirkland – who,
continuing his much-improved play of late,
bounced around and over the befuddled
Wildcat defenders as if they were rooted into
the floor, scoring 18 points in the second half
(out of a Minutemen total of 31).

And all of that still would been for naught if it
wasn't for gifted new Minuteguard Shannon
Crooks. One of the main culprits of the fetid
first half – he was shooting an onerous 1-12
from the floor before the last minute of the
game – Crooks hit an unbelievable three from
way out deep, giving UMass a 52-49 lead with
just fifteen brief ticks left on the clock.

Yes – also try, huge, humongous, outsized,
enormous, and incredibly phat. Even beyond
the mere fact of the big victory it led to, who
knows what would have happened to the
youthful team mentally after squandering such
a courageous comeback against such a good
team?

Probably, pretty much what happened in the
next game. Still shooting the ball as if they
needed an extra-large compass to find the
basket, UMass dropped a painful 63-59
defensive struggle to a 4-2 Detroit team that
reached the NCAA second round last year but,
at the same time, hails from an obscure
conference (the MCC) and lost three starters.

Though Kirkland had another huge effort (17
points, 6 rebounds, two assists and a steal), the
Minutemen couldn't hit the ocean from the
shore overall, shooting just 38 per cent.
Particularly surprising was sizzling Monty
Mack's icy effort from the floor (4 points on
2-11 field goals).

On the positive side – yes, there was one – the
talented Crooks is visibly warming up (13
points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals) to Coach Flint's
system. And 6-11 rookie big man Micah Brand,
extremely gifted as well, had 11 points and four
rebounds in just 22 minutes of playing time off
the pine.

Even more important, UMass' low scoring
totals are totally misleading. True to his word,
Coach Flint's guys are racing up and down the
floor at the speed of light, playing at a pace the
players and the fans could only dream about
over the last few walk-it-up and stuff-it-in
seasons. The problem is, it's difficult to rack up
points if you don't hit your shots.

And the Minutemen – just 40 per cent from the
floor this season as a team, and only 32 from
trey range – are missing their shots. Good
shots, bad shots, close-in shots, long shots. Nor
are they hitting their free-throw opportunities at
an even average rate (only 62.7 per cent).

"The free-throw shooting, that has to get
better," Flint said. "I'm not that concerned about
our shooting from the floor, though, because
we're creating quality opportunities for
ourselves most of the time," Flint said. "And
with our level of talent, as long as we keep on
creating good looks at the basket, those shots
are going to fall very soon for us."

They'd better. Because things aren't about to
get any easier for this young team. Au
contraire, next up is ACC power Florida State
at the Orange Bowl Classic in Miami. Then, in
the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic, the
Minutemen face tough Southern Illinois and,
should they win, nationally-ranked Tennessee.
Then it's a road trip to Big East territory
(Providence). And, after that, the Atlantic 10
conference season looms just around the
corner.

So, if UMass' season is to become any kind of
a success, a quick overall improvement in
team's level of play becomes essential. And
some consistency – in shooting the ball, in
making better decisions on the floor – would be
very welcome as well.